ChaChaGirls

My friend’s husband said, “If you can’t fit it in a backpack for camping, you don’t need it.” Well, I guess I went camping ChaCha style, because two car loads later, I felt like I had almost everything. My children were excited to camp on Mother’s Day weekend with our neighbors (33 people in total!), so I was going to make sure we were over-prepared. Isn’t that a girl scout motto?

Five families spent the night and many others came to visit on Saturday. After my husband assembled the tent and built the fire, I came in with the two queen air mattresses, sheets, comforters, and extra pillows. He may have given me looks that showed he was a manly man and didn’t need all of that, but I know his back appreciated it the next morning. My son wanted to know why he needed so many clothes and after his third outfit in one day got wet, I just smiled and said, “Mommies know best!”

We had more than enough food to feed the entire campsite, let alone a small nation. The chip selection alone rivaled Walmart’s aisle ten! When you hike, swim, and bike all day, appetites are fierce. Or, the exact opposite, when you sit around in a fold out chair all day and stare at a fire knowing you can’t do laundy (but thinking about all the stuff you will have to wash upon return), clean out a drawer, or empty the dishwasher, you just eat all day too! I of course not knowing what my tastebuds might crave, had a sampling of everything from sweet, salty to sour. In addition, I brought several different alcoholic beverages to choose from and those mixers. I would like it to be written that next year, I am bringing a blender, but thought I might get too many looks from my fellow neighbors on camping trip round one. I know my limits of being an over-doer. One friend did have a welcome mat outside her tent, and I will file that away as a future camping necessity.

We were on Red Top Mountain on Lake Allatoona in Geogia. The weather was a Chamber of Commerce weekend, warm 2 days and cool the third, with no rain in sight. I know we were only thirty minutes from civilization but it seemed much further as all four of us slept within an arms grasp of each other…perhaps, that made it the perfect thing to do Mother’s Day Weekend, except for the side effects of those campfire beans!

If you have a ChaChaBella camping story to share, the winner will receive a ring that represents the color of nature!
Send submissions to Suzanne at s@chachabella.com.